Journal of Neurocytology最新文献

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a polyglutamine repeat expansion in the N-terminus of the huntingtin protein. Huntingtin is normally present in the cytoplasm where it may interact with structural and synaptic elements. The mechanism of HD pathogenesis remains unknown but studies indicate a toxic gain-of-function possibly through aberrant protein interactions. To investigate whether early degenerative changes in HD involve alterations of cytoskeletal and vesicular components, we examined early cellular changes in the frontal cortex of HD presymptomatic (PS), early pathological grade (grade 1) and late-stage (grade 3 and 4) patients as compared to age-matched controls. Morphologic analysis using silver impregnation revealed a progressive decrease in neuronal fiber density and organization in pyramidal cell layers beginning in presymptomatic HD cases. Immunocytochemical analyses for the cytoskeletal markers alpha -tubulin, microtubule-associated protein 2, and phosphorylated neurofilament demonstrated a concomitant loss of staining in early grade cases. Immunoblotting for synaptic proteins revealed a reduction in complexin 2, which was marked in some grade 1 HD cases and significantly reduced in all late stage cases. Interestingly, we demonstrate that two synaptic proteins, dynamin and PACSIN 1, which were unchanged by immunoblotting, showed a striking loss by immunocytochemistry beginning in early stage HD tissue suggesting abnormal distribution of these proteins. We propose that mutant huntingtin affects proteins involved in synaptic function and cytoskeletal integrity before symptoms develop which may influence early disease onset and/or progression.

By means of a condenser-discharge electric shock paradigm, "dark" granule neurones were momentarily produced in a sporadic distribution among normal ones in the otherwise undamaged (non-necrotic, non-excitotoxic, non-inflammatory or non-contused) hippocampal dentate gyri of the rat brain. In the electron microscope, the ultrastructural elements of the affected neurones remained undamaged but turned markedly electron-dense and the distances between them became strikingly reduced (compaction). A proportion of such neurones recovered in 1 day while others died. During the first week of survival, the dead "dark" granule neurones retained the compacted and electron-dense ultrastructure, but underwent cytoplasmic convolution and fragmentation. The fragments were enclosed by membranes and separated from each other and from the intact neuropil by astrocytic processes containing an excess of glycogen particles. Neither proliferation of microglial cells nor infiltration of haematogenous macrophages was observed. A few fragments were taken over by resting microglial cells, while the majority was engulfed by astrocytes. The latter transported the engulfed fragments, either unchanged or digested to various degrees, to capillaries, arterioles and venules. Thereafter, the astrocyte-engulfed neuronal fragments, as well as their partly or completely digested remnants, were either transferred to phagocytotic pericytes or discharged into vascular lumina.

Choroid plexus ependymal cells (CPECs) were known to promote axonal growth when choroid plexus is grafted into the adult rat spinal cord. The present study was carried out to examine whether CPECs promote axonal outgrowth from neurons derived from the CNS in vitro. Hippocampal neurons were cocultured on CPEC monolayers. After 24 h, neurite extension was evaluated using various parameters in comparison with cultures grown on poly-L-lysine (PLL)-coated plates and cocultures grown on astrocyte monolayers. The primary neurite length and total neurite length were longest in the cocultures with CPECs. The number of primary neurites and the number of branches were larger in the cultures with CPECs than in the cultures on PLL-coated plates, but almost the same as in the cocultures with astrocytes. Next, we examined whether the neurite extension-promoting effect occurring within 24 h is due primarily to contact with the CPECs or to factors secreted by CPECs into the culture medium. The CPEC monolayers were killed by ethanol fixation, and neurons cultured on them. The neurons extended long neurites with elaborate branching, as in the case of cocultures grown on living CPECs. On the other hand, CPEC-conditioned medium exhibited less promoting effect on neurite outgrowth from hippocampal neurons. These results indicate that CPECs have a capacity to promote neurite outgrowth from CNS neurons in vitro , and that surface plasma membrane-bound components of CPECs strongly contribute to the enhancement of neurite outgrowth in the present coculture system.

In this study we have taken advantage of the high nuclear responsiveness of type A sensory ganglia neurons to variations of cellular activity to investigate the reorganization and dynamics of nuclear compartments involved in transcription and RNA processing in response to neuronal injury. As experimental model we have used the inflammatory injury of the peripheral nerve endings induced by formalin injection in the areas of ophthalmic/maxillary nerve distribution. We have performed immunofluorescence and confocal laser microscopy analysis with specific antibodies for different nuclear compartments and ultrastructural analysis. The initial response to neuronal injury, within the 3 days post-injury, consisted of chromatin condensation, reduction in the expression level of acetylated histone H4, accumulation of perichromatin granules, reorganization of splicing factors in prominent nuclear speckles, reduction in the number of Cajal bodies and nucleolar alterations. These changes tended to revert by day 7 post-injury and are consistent with a transient inhibition of transcription and RNA processing. Moreover, we have observed an early and sustained expression of the transcription factor c-Jun. These results illustrate the transcription-dependent organization of nuclear compartments in type A trigeminal neurons and also support the importance of the nuclear response to axonal injury as a key component in the regenerative capacity of this neuronal population.

Arylsulfatase A (ASA) degrades sulfatide, seminolipid and lactosylceramide sulfate, glycolipids recognized by the Sulph I antibody although sulfatide is considered the main antigen. Sulfatide is myelin associated but studies have shown a minor distribution also in non-myelin forming cells. The aim of this work was to further study sulfatide in neurons and astrocytes by immunohistochemistry, facilitated by investigation of tissue from adult ASA deficient (ASA -/-) mice. Cells with a low presence of sulfatide might be detected due to lack of ASA activity and accumulation of Sulph I antigens. Sulfatide positive astrocytes and neurons were more numerous and intensely stained in ASA -/- mice, demonstrating a sulfatide accumulation compared to controls. Sulph I staining was especially increased in the molecular layer of cerebellum, in which Purkinje cell dendrites displayed an altered morphology, and in layer IV-VI of cerebral cortex. In hippocampus, immunostaining was found in neuronal cytoplasm in ASA -/- but in nuclear membranes of control mice. We observed a gray matter astrogliosis, which appeared to be associated to sulfatide accumulation. In addition, the developmental change (<20 months) of Sulph I antigens, galactosylceramide, phospholipids and cholesterol were followed by lipid analyses which verified sulfatide and seminolipid accumulation in adult ASA -/- mice, although no lactosylceramide sulfate could be detected. In addition to demonstrating sulfatide in neurons and astrocytes, this study supports the value of ASA -/- mice as a model for metachromatic leukodystrophy and suggests that accumulation of sulfatide beyond myelin might contribute to the pathology of this disease.

In view of the recent focus on the zona incerta (and surrounding regions) as a target for deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson Disease, we have explored incertal cyto and chemoarchitecture in normal and MPTP (methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine)-treated macaque monkeys. Brains were processed for routine tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), nitric oxide synthase (NOs), parvalbumin (Pv) and calbindin D 28k (Cal) immunocytochemistry, as well as for Nissl staining. We show four main sectors in the zona incerta, namely rostral, dorsal, ventral and caudal, each with a largely distinct cytoarchitecture. Each of the antibodies screened had signature distribution patterns across the zona incerta; TH+ cells were localised within the rostral sector, NOs+ cells were concentrated in the dorsal sector, Pv+ cells were found mainly in the ventral sector and Cal+ cells were distributed uniformly across all sectors. These patterns match closely those reported in non primates. We found no major differences in the distribution and shape of labelled cells in the zona incerta of MPTP-treated monkeys when compared to control. In conclusion, we report that the primate zona incerta shows considerable cyto and chemoarchitectonic heterogeneity; that it forms a nucleus with distinct sectors presumably associated with diverse functions--from generating arousal to shifting attention, and from controlling visceral activity to influencing posture and locomotion. These functions have been proposed for the zona incerta of non primates. Our results have clinical implications, in that deep brain stimulation of the zona incerta (or parts thereof) could manifest in signs and symptoms other than those associated with the motor system. Such clinical stimulations could well involve other systems, including those of arousal, attention and visceral control.

Carbon monoxide (CO), an activator of soluble guanylate cyclase (SGC) and generated enzymatically by heme oxygenases (HO), is considered to function as an intra- and intercellular neuromodulator or neurotransmitter in the central and peripheral nervous systems. HO-2 is the constitutive isoform of HO and is more prevalent in nervous tissues than in the other peripheral tissues. Because previous studies have demonstrated different distributions of HO-2 in the retina depending on the species of animals, the aim of this study was to identify which cell types of the monkey retina express HO-2. The expression of HO-2 protein was examined in monkey retina by Western blot analysis. Immunoblottings from monkey homogenates revealed a single clear protein band with a molecular mass of 36 kDa that is corresponding to rat HO-2. Immunoreactivity of HO-2 was found in the perikarya of ganglion cells. Density of immunoreactive ganglion cells was higher in the central area of retina than in the peripheral retina, and somata of larger ganglion cells were stained more densely than smaller ones. In electron microscopy, immunoreactivity of HO-2 was localized on the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum and the nuclear outer membrane of the ganglion cells. By contrast, inner plexiform layer, inner nuclear layer and outer nuclear layer were devoid of HO-2 immunoreactivity. cGMP were strongly localized in all of ganglion cells. Some cells contributed to the relatively faint cGMP staining were seen in the inner nuclear layer. In combination of HO-2 and cGMP immunocytochemistry, the overlap of co-localization of HO-2 and cGMP would suggest that HO-2 in the ganglion cells would serve as a source for CO generation and CO could serve as a gaseous signaling molecule modulator of neural activity in the retina of monkey.

The vanilloid receptor type 1 (TRPV1/VR1) is a non-specific calcium-permeable ionotropic cation channel expressed in the peripheral sensory system as well as in the central nervous system. An endogenous ligand for TRPV1 is arachidonoyl ethanolamide (anandamide), which also activates the metabotropic cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1). Previous studies in this laboratory reported CB1 receptors and CB1-mediated effects on voltage-gated currents in goldfish cones and bipolar cells. In this study, we show TRPV1-like-immunoreactivity (TRPV1-L-IR) by immunoblot analysis of goldfish retina and rat brain homogenates with a guinea pig polyclonal antibody against the C-terminus of the rat TRPV1. Light-level immunocytochemistry showed restriction of the guinea pig-TRPV1 antibody to a very narrow band in the outer plexiform layer in goldfish and zebrafish retinas. However, no immunoreactivity was detected using rabbit-polyclonal antibodies against the C or N-termini of the rat TRPV1. Pre and post-embedding electron microscopy (EM) immunocytochemistry revealed that TRPV1-L-IR (using the guinea pig antibody) was restricted to synaptic ribbons of all cones and many rods, but never was observed at the synaptic ribbons of bipolar cells. While pre-embedded tissue showed diffuse label associated only with photoreceptor-synaptic ribbons, analysis of post-embedded tissue showed label tightly restricted to synaptic ribbons of all cones and many rods. Oblique sections showed that immunogold particles were confined to the outer electron dense region of the ribbons, with few or no gold particles in the ribbon core or associated with tethers or vesicles. Although TRPV1-L-IR described here, does not necessarily represent TRPV1 antigen associated with synaptic ribbons, these data provide an unequivocal label with which to study the functional dynamics of ribbon formation and degradation in teleost photoreceptors.

It has been previously shown that withdrawal from alcohol decreases the synthesis and expression of vasopressin (VP) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), and that the infusion of NGF over 1 month completely restores these changes. Because SCN neurons do not express TrkA, NGF might have exerted its effects either through direct signalling of the neurons via p75NTR or by enhancing the activity of the cholinergic afferents to the SCN, which arise from the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). The observation that the infusion of NT-3 to withdrawn rats does not elicit any change in neuropeptide expression in the SCN suggests that ACh might be implicated in this process, a hypothesis that we have attempted to clarify in this study. For this purpose we destroyed, with quinolinic acid, the NBM of rats withdrawn from ethanol and later infused them with NGF over a period of 13 days. The total number and the somatic volume of SCN neurons immunoreactive for VP and VIP were stereologically estimated. No differences were found in the total number of neurons between quinolinic-injected NGF-treated withdrawn animals and intact withdrawn rats. However, the somatic volume of SCN neurons from quinolinic-injected animals was significantly reduced relative to control and withdrawn rats. The present results unequivocally demonstrate that the trophic effects exerted by NGF upon SCN neurons do not depend on direct neuronal signalling. Instead, they are indirect and, according to our results, NBM neurons, whose axons give rise to a cholinergic projection to the SCN, seem to be essential for eliciting those effects.

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is a family of enzymes playing diverse roles in lipid signaling in neurons and glia cells. In this study, we examined the expression of subtypes of PLA2 in the cerebellum using immunolabeling and in situ hybridization methods. Two Ca2+-dependent cytosolic subtypes (cPLA2alpha and cPLA2beta), one Ca2+-independent cytosolic subtype (iPLA2), and two secretory subtypes (sPLA2IIA and sPLA2V) were detected in the cerebellum. cPLA2alpha is present in somata and dendrites of Purkinje cells, while sPLA2IIA is associated with the endoplasmic reticulum in perinuclear regions of Purkinje cell somata. iPLA2 is present in granule cells, stellate cells and also in the nucleus of Purkinje cells. In addition, cPLA2beta is localized in granule cells, and sPLA2V in Bergmann glia cells. These results provide an important basis for identifying functional roles of PLA2s in the cerebellum.